Kiki’s Delivery Service
by Eiko Kadono
Summary
Half-witch Kiki never runs from a challenge. So when her thirteenth birthday arrives, she’s eager to follow a witch’s tradition: choose a new town to call home for one year.
Brimming with confidence, Kiki flies to the seaside village of Koriko and expects that her powers will easily bring happiness to the townspeople. But gaining the trust of the locals is trickier than she expected. With her faithful, wisecracking black cat, Jiji, by her side, Kiki forges new friendships and builds her inner strength, ultimately realizing that magic can be found in even the most ordinary places.
My Review
This was a very endearing, sweet, and cozy fantasy story. I enjoyed this world where it’s normal to have witches living among people, though not every town or city has a resident witch. It is a cute coming-of-age story about a very young witch who is trying to find her place in the world, come into her magic (and herself), and decide what she wants her life to be like, which is a heavy burden on someone so young and inexperienced. I thought 13 was rather too young for a girl to go out on her own and learn about the real world, but that is part of the rules of this universe, so I went along with it.
Kiki is such a likable and relatable character. She makes a lot of mistakes and learns through trial and error. But she always figures things out. She’s quite clever and intelligent. She’s also pretty mature for her age, which we can observe when she creates her business, even though she gets help from new friends that she makes in her new town.
There is quite a bit of humor in it. It’s a light, fast, and easy book that you could probably read in one day. It is a slice-of-life, slower-paced story, so if you like a lot of action, suspense, and thrill, this may not be the book for you. But it is super wholesome and whimsical.
I also watched the Studio Ghibli movie after I read the book. In this case, I preferred the book over the movie. There was a lot more charm and whimsy within the book. I also enjoyed, after Kiki starts her delivery business and customers hire her, how each chapter felt like its own short story. The movie didn’t really show this part of the book, which I felt was lacking. But overall, the movie was fun to watch after reading the book. Definitely recommend the book!